USF Alum Farms His Way Through Europe

Tanya Dzekon
Staff Writer 

Sam Wilder wakes up at 7:30 a.m. everyday to eat his breakfast and do his Tai Chi stretches before heading to the stables to work with horses. After that, he tends to the garden — watering the plants and keeping up with pest-control — before finishing his day wrangling a flock of sheep. Wilder is volunteering through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) on a farm in the hamlet of Virginstow, England. Volunteers like Wilder call themselves WWOOFers (pronounced “woofers’) and they provide a helping hand on a farm within the WWOOF network in exchange for a place to stay and three meals a day.